A White Chocolate Wedding
by AliasStars
Summary: Sesshomaru has been a wedding dress designer for years, and he's seen them all; Pushy, kind, rich, poor. He's seen all the dresses as well. He's made dresses of silk, velvet, duct tape, diamonds, even glass. But not only is Rin very cheerful, she's also a bit eccentric, and really doesn't want to get married. Oh yeah- She also wants a wedding dress made out of chocolate. (S/R, M)
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: He has been a wedding dress designer for years, and he's seen them all; Pushy, kind, rich, poor- And he's seen all the dresses as well. He's made dress of silk, velvet, duct tape, diamonds- Even glass. But not only is Rin very cheerful, she's also a bit eccentric, and really doesn't want to get married. Oh yeah- And she also wants a wedding dress made out of chocolate.**

www . imagegossips (DOTCOM) / 0 9 / unique - things - that - made - of - chocolate /

(Take out the spaces and fill in DOTCOM and you'll see Rin's dress^^)

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Chapter One

A Dress Made of Chocolate

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The woman sat there for a good four hours, for which Sesshomaru was regretful. It was vital that he keep his customers happy. But the woman was patient and looked somewhat cheerful, despite the fact that sadness permeated off of her like heat from an oven.

She was doll-like. A porcelain figure with soft, cream-colored skin and her hands all twisted together. A simple ring shone on her ring finger, and she constantly toyed with it, pulling on, off, twisting it around. Her dark hair fell in thick, lustrous waves. Clearly, she was someone who was slowly progressing towards wedding day- She'd already begun to make preparations. Sesshomaru saw, everyday, another glowing bride whose hair would fall in a frizz-free waterfall, whose lips would be glossy and shaped, whose nails were painted sparkly golden and white.

This woman did not glow. She just sat there, looking tired and somewhat bored. She checked her watch, an ornate piece of jewelry that clashed with the rest of her professional ensemble. Her eyes, doe-brown and chocolate, were calm, too calm, almost to the point where she looked very tired. Sesshomaru finally finished the woman he was working on and headed over to the other, extending his hand in greeting.

"Hello," he said in a soothing, velvety voice. "I apologize for the wait. I am Sesshomaru Takahashi, owner of this establishment. What can I do for you today?" Her grip was soft, but firm, and she was smiling despite the wait. Sesshomaru noticed she was clutching a white paper bag in her grip, one with the name of a familiar sounding chocolate shop on the front.

She laughed, and when she did, her whole face seemed to light up a little brighter. Her smile touched her eyes, something he rarely saw in the demanding women that came by. "That's okay. Aren't you charming? Well," she stood up, her lovely dark eyes earnest, "My name is Rin Yorozoku."

"Soon to be?"

"No," she said carefully, her eyes sharpening for a minute. "That's my maiden name." She released his hand, and Sesshomaru suddenly knew this woman was not going, completely consensually, into this wedding.

"I apologize," he said smoothly, covering his mistake. "Do come with me. Shall we figure out your dress?"

"Actually," Rin followed him to the back room and set down the paper he'd just noticed she was holding. "I already know what I want."

A woman who knew what she wanted. That was surprising. Sesshomaru got looks from engaged women- heck, even mothers, so he thought he knew what to expect. Every woman wanted a dress specially designed by Sesshomaru Takahashi- After all, he was considered to have a taste that was considered unachievable. He knew what a woman looked good in, and what she could do without. He gently took the paper from Rin and sat down.

As Sesshomaru looked over the design, Rin looked in awe at the gorgeous designs and intricate lace patterns. He watched her twirl around and the corner of his mouth twitched a little bit.

Sesshomaru himself was a tad bit impressed. Although she was no artist, the dress was sketchy and elegant. It was simple but beautiful; Sesshomaru could imagine folds of chiffon for the skirt, the silk white bodice draped with tiny little pearl beads. Rin was very small and delicate, so he could picture making the dress small and delicate as well. She was like a fairy, and the dress would emphasize her well. But then, every dress he made emphasized any body structure.

As he pictured it, Rin was in the back, admiring the dresses. She found delicate, princess like ones, and very posh ones teeming with large silk flowers. There were dressed that wrapped around and hugged the body, and there were loose ones that flowed outwards in rivers.

She felt beautiful just standing there.

Sesshomaru clearing his throat brought her back. She headed over to him- goodness, he was incredibly good-looking, like some kind of Greek god. He had a white silk suit and a lavender tie with ruffles framing the button lines. He offered her a hand, elevating her to the pedestal.

He measured her waist, around the chest, and around the head for her veil, and then turned to write some measurements.

"This looks like a lovely dress," he said calmly. "I have some ideas for the material, so-"

"Um," Rin said abruptly. She looked embarrassed with herself, and he urged her to keep talking, amber eyes curious. "Um, I have a specific material and color I thought of..."

"That's okay too," he said cautiously. In these events, when he considered his opinion better than the customers, (which was 99.9% of the time), he had to carefully convince them that no, a lilac, bright orange, and mustard yellow dress with spontaneous red shoes was not really a good idea. He hoped Rin was not one of those people.

"My mother," Rin said quietly, "was a pâtissier and a high class chocolatier." Sesshomaru didn't know where this was going, until he saw Rin take out the huge box of white chocolate that had been nestled into the bottom of the bag she'd been carrying earlier.

_What the..._

"Can you please make my wedding dress out of chocolate?"

He just stared at her, surprised for once. His jaw dropped a little and he pulled himself together and cleared his throat. "Ch-Chocolate?"

"Mm," Rin nodded. "This is the last full box of handmade white chocolate she made, and she was really crafty. So I... Wanted to preserve it into a dress and take a picture." Sesshomaru was changing his mind- this woman was absolutely nuts.

She began to look crestfallen, as she took in his less-than-enthusiastic face. "I-I see..." She slowly stood up, retracting the box of chocolate. "I'll... Try to find someone else, then." She turned, holding the box tightly in her arms, and he noticed that she was walking rather uncomfortably in the light brown heels. Had she been walking around all day, trying to find someone who would comply to her crazy request?

He was about to turn away, but suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration. He was a dress designer, right at the top with the other extremely well-known designers. If he could make a dress from duct tape and Pokémon cards, he could definitely attempt to make Rin a dress out of chocolate, even though it was an absolutely … eccentric idea.

It was going to be difficult. He had never been one to turn down a challenge, though. He went after her, catching up just as she was leaving. The bell danced for a minute, and Rin paused, turning to him.

"Listen." he said quickly. "I looked over the dress, and... I want to try it, okay?" _Now_ she was glowing. Her face brightened, and a brilliant smile crossed her face. It was like her face just lit up. Dimples adorned her cheeks and she just continued grinning. "I'm going to call you later today, or later this week. I can't be positive because I have a lot of customers, but I really do want to try it out."

"Oh," she said, "Thank you so much, you have no idea what this means for me." She handed him the box and bounced on the balls of her feet with renewed enthusiasm. "Thank you thank you thank you."

He raised a hand, stilling her display of enthusiasm. "We'll see how it goes, Ms. Yorozoku."

"Please," she grinned, writing her number down and handing it to him as she held open the glass door. "Call me Rin."

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**That's part one, guys! ^^ I hope you like this one, it's my first step away from my usual comfort zone of Vocaloids O.o Please review! The rest will be longer, I promise!**


	2. Chapter 2

**G-Guys... I asked for one review and you gave me not one, not two, but _fifteen!...? _****What a sweet, warm welcome! I love the lot of you. *huggles*****_  
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Chapter One

Thinking Out of the Box

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Sesshomaru leaned over the artwork again, the smell of chocolate filling the room as he futilely chipped away with the chisel. He was working on a tiny model of Rin's dress, and it was really beginning to grate his nerves.

Kouga, his partner and friend, was working on Rin's model in the corner, and now he came over to present his work. Based on the picture, Kouga had made an albeit solemn, one-foot model of Rin. Sesshomaru looked at her for a minute, and then used his claw to adjust her mouth so she was smiling.

_That looks more like Rin_, he thought as he went back to work on the meticulous curls and folds of the white chocolate. He tried to melt down the chocolate to help him fold it easier. He picked up a sheet of wax paper and ended up burning his hand for at least the third time.

_Damn it! _

He would never admit it, but this was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. Chocolate was fun to work with if you were a patissier or a chocolatier. Sesshomaru was neither.

"Looks like it's rough." Kouga remarked. Sesshomaru glared at him, amber eyes pressing, asking quietly what it was that Kouga wanted that was so important that it was taking up his precious work time.

"Look," Kouga sat down and placed the chocolate model over the model of Rin. It immediately broke to pieces, white chocolate pieces all over the wooden desk. Sesshomaru spun, snarling at Kouga, but Kouga just raised his eyebrow.

"You're such a workaholic. Stop growling, princess, and listen to me." Sesshomaru was honestly going to kill Kouga if the wolf demon sat there even a second longer than he absolutely needed to, which was _every second that passed_. "Rin never said the dress had to be fully chocolate, did she?"

Sesshomaru paused for a moment and turned back to the model. He collected the broken chocolate and held it in his palm with one hand, weighing it in size with chiffon in the other.

"See? Aren't I brilliant?" Kouga grinned, well, wolfishly. "Admit it."

"Don't flatter yourself," Sesshomaru remarked, smirking. "I already had that idea in mind. Perhaps just an inkling then."

"An inkling." Kouga's sarcastic voice was marred with incredulity. "You ice princess, I'll show you an inkling. An inkling of my demonic strength."

"No need, this Sesshomaru has plenty of it himself... Mangy mutt."

"I am a purebred-"

"H'llo?" Ah, it was Rin herself. Sesshomaru walked over to the door and allowed the small woman to enter. She looked around, face in utter bliss for a few moments. Then, it evaporated into a tense mask once more as she smiled, somewhat strained, at Sesshomaru.

"H-How is it going?"

Sesshomaru held the destroyed chocolate behind his back and nodded convincingly. "Of course it's going well. This Sesshomaru never settles for less than perfect."

"Is that me?" Rin sat down across her model, her face brightening. Red settled into the apples of her cheeks and those dimples came out as she grinned. "That's so cute! Is that really me?"

Sesshomaru realized what was missing, grabbed a toothpick, and poked the dimples into her cheeks. "Now it's complete."

Rin laughed out loud. "Did you make it?"

"Yes," he lied. Kouga wouldn't care. Or maybe he would- the wolf demon was giving him a dirty look.

"It's so pretty, Takahashi-san." Sesshomaru didn't look at her. What was it about this crazy woman that both bothered and slight muddled?

"Sesshomaru." He muttered, pulling Rin's model close to his hand. His claw tangled in the soft brown wig Kouga had placed haphazardly on Rin's head, and he readjusted it so it wasn't falling. Kouga huffed as he walked behind Sesshomaru. What a baby.

"Hm?" Rin hummed as she ran her thumb over the red tinted porcelain face. Sesshomaru had requested that Kouga put in all the details of Rin's face and body, for whatever reason. He couldn't imagine Rin as the same faceless mannequin that Kouga made for the other women. Rin's tiny version beamed up at him, and the real Rin smiled as well. The only thing Sesshomaru had completed was the veil, and it had tiny chocolate roses linked together, with a net of gauze hanging downwards. He placed this headband carefully on Rin's dark brown head.

"You can call me Sesshomaru," he offered quietly.

"Is that the veil? It's so cute!" Rin leaned towards the mini chocolate roses and prodded at them. "This is chocolate?"

Sesshomaru nodded. He was incredibly talented at everything, and carving flowers out of chocolate was, while a difficult task, almost equivalent to carving things into clay. With the molds Kouga made for him, he was able to melt chocolate and let it harden into the plastic. After that, it was simply poking out the little flowers and threading them together.

"Oh, beautiful." Rin smiled, and Sesshomaru looked up at her.

"You aren't allowed to be in here," he said. "After all, the wedding dress has to be a surprise." She pouted, and he raised a swift eyebrow at the action. She had a child's attitude and playfulness, but sometimes carried the composure of a very tired old lady.

He stood up, and she did as well. Rin couldn't help but stare at him as he rose, as he took off his black overcoat, tossing it over his shoulder to expose the thin white dress shirt he was donning beneath it. He'd been wearing thin black reading glasses to properly see the roses best he could, and now he slipped them off. He snapped the hair band holding back his hair off and let the strands spill down over his shoulders, raising both eyebrows.

"Shall we head out?" How long had he been talking to her? Rin snapped out of it, stuttering slightly, a light blush dusting her cheeks. She was such a pervert. She had a fiance, and here she was, eyeing this delicious man like an idiot.

But then, she had a special dark place in her heart for just her fiance. "U-Um, yeah. Y-Yeah, l-let's-" She took one step forward before slipping straight over the silk that lay across the floor. Down she went, almost about to fall right onto the marble floors and crack her head, before Sesshomaru's arms curled around her stomach and legs. He was holding her to him like she was a drowned cat.

Rin flailed for a minute before she practically pushed him away, disentangling herself from the taller man.

"S-Sorry! Sorry!" she kept blurting out like some sort of broken record. "I'll-" her face was entirely red as she buried it into the white cloth. She held it there for a minute to cool herself off and then returned it to the rack. Sesshomaru's golden eyes were tinted with wicked amusement as he opened the door.

Rin barely managed to mutter a "thank you" as she slipped past him, and finally regain herself at the outer doors. There was a bit of an awkward silence as Rin tried to find something to say to Sesshomaru.

"Thanks for making my dress," she finally blurted out.

He just looked at her like she was an idiot.

She couldn't blame her.

It always seemed that Sesshomaru had at least a slight hint of amusement in his eyes when he looked at her, so at least she had reached 'entertainment' in his mind.

"I'm just going to... Leave." she mumbled, turning around and nearly slamming into the door. The last time she'd been this clumsy, she ended up having a concussion.

Sesshomaru watched her leave and headed back to the back-shop. He took out the chiffon and white chocolate from behind his back and tossed the chiffon at Kouga, who sputtered and barely caught it.

"What the hell was that for-?!"

"I'm not using chiffon. Or anything else."

Kouga stared at him. "How the hell else are you planning on making a dress out of chocolate?"

Sesshomaru massaged his temples as he watched Rin dance down the street, looking awfully dazed. "I don't know."

"What? Ah," Kouga smirked, his head resting against his palm. "So Princess Fluffypants admits he doesn't know something."

Sesshomaru shot the wolf demon a burning glare and sat down, drawing a gentle, sweeping dress across the large piece of sketching paper. It was a perfect imitation of Rin's dress, and he began to fill in the portions of chocolate in triangles instead of in a single curve. He admired it with a ghost of a smirk.

"I promised her a dress made of chocolate, and a dress made of chocolate is what she will receive."

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**Still short chapters T_T Don't worry! They will get longer, I guarantee it! After all, summer just started and I (think) I have time to do some story work! Please review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Well helloo, readers. Here's le chapter, hehehe. *is killed FOR FRICKIN VANISHING OFF THE FACE OF THE PLANET* Ya know, my Inuyasha bunch is receiving more of my minimal attention than my Vocaloid stories. Whut? I don't even... Okay. Whatever. Inspiration hit for this one earlier in the week and therefore I ratted it out quickly. It introduces a few more:)**

**Also, this was going to be a little humorous- Namely, I was going to make Jakotsu Rin's fiance and make it sort of a comedy based off of Jakotsu's feelings for someone other than Rin, but since so many of you thought it was going to be darker, behold; I present to you quite a darker version of the light little thing I had meant to go for earlier. YAY FOR ANGSTINESS AND HURT/COMFORT AND DRAMA! **

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∙•◦●○◉○●◦•∙Chapter 3∙•◦●○◉○●◦•∙

Fleeting Little Affections and Unidentifiable Objects

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"What in the name of all things holy is that."

"I don't know, Rin, you tell me." Kagome shifted a little bit in fear and shied away from even the cover she was using, which happened to be Rin herself. Blue eyes peered out fearfully from behind a mass of curly-straight black hair.

"I think..." Rin swallowed. "I think it's alive." She slowly reached down and removed the shiny chocolate heel from her foot. Raising it above her head, she aimed very carefully- and ended up nailing the monstrosity that had latched onto the wedding dresses in the corner.

...It squawked.

"Ack! You idiotic human! What was that for?" Bulbous, yellowish eyes locked onto Rin and she and Kagome cringed away. It was holding up the wedding dress and had skin as green and rough as a lizard's. Its knobbly head was unsuccessfully covered by some sort of misshapen cone shaped abomination and its nose was long and pointy, almost like a piece of paper had been folded into a triangle and jabbed onto its face. Rin tried to maintain her cool, and instead pointed at him, lowering her other shoe to the ground.

"Ah... You can talk."

"Yes, I can talk, you little human fool!" He hopped up and down like he was having a seizure and waved his knobby little fists as he waddled past the two young woman, clutching his head. "Master Sesshomaru will hear about you imbeciles, as soon as I find hi-..." The little green toad-like thing scuttled away from the door, a door that had just swung open to reveal a somewhat annoyed looking Sesshomaru. A somewhat annoyed looking Sesshomaru whose legs the little creature had just managed to successfully slam into.

"Why are you near the door, Jaken?" He asked coolly, looking down with stormy golden eyes that radiated a silent, scary authority. He loomed a menacing and impressive six feet over the little demon, and Jaken seemed to remember that as he was craning backwards to meet the man's eyes. Sesshomaru looked up, and, upon seeing Rin, he executed a flawless raise of the eyebrow. "Ah, Rin. I see you have met Jaken, already."

Rin, stunned speechless upon this development, kept her mouth shut and tried in vain to wrestle her shoe back onto her foot without looking backward. She hadn't known that Jaken was important to Sesshomaru, and now she had screwed it up. Guilty, she rubbed the back of her head and laughed sheepishly, hoping she could appeal to his less-scarier side. "Uh... Uh, about that..."

"That silly human threw a shoe at my head!" Jaken hopped up and down like an sugar-injected gummy bear. A very squat gummy toad, rather. A very ugly squat gummy toad. Rin flinched at the correct accusation and blushed, trying not to meet Sesshomaru's face. "Master Sesshomaru, please say something to her about this clear abuse of an employee at your fine establishment!"

Sesshomaru lazily drew his amber irises from the complaining, whiny little creature up to Rin's face. She looked pale and guilty, and was avoiding his eyes clearly. There was another human tucked behind her, looking at Jaken fearfully.

"Jaken," he began, ever in the icy tones he reserved just for the small demon and various other imbeciles of his caliber. "What have I told you about the customer?"

"..." Jaken twiddled his hand claw things together, trying not to make them touch. He cringed away from Sesshomaru, those bug eyes shifty and awkward. "That they are always right, Master Sesshomaru."

"And if Ms. Rin deemed it necessary to hit you with a shoe, then she was right, yes?"

"No!" Rin blurted out, a sort of squeamish pity rising up in her at the sight of the pathetic little thing, bowing its head in shame to Sesshomaru. "It really was my fault, I, uh, didn't know he was your..." She thought about and tasted a few words to complete the sentence, and then managed to utter a difficult, "...Accomplice." She smiled in somewhat of a pained way.

"Yeah," Kagome mumbled unhelpfully. "She thought it was a Jell-O experiment gone wrong." Rin elbowed her friend in the ribs, still smiling with a plastered look.

"Jaken." Sesshomaru said, completely ignoring Rin. His eyes didn't stray from the stack of dresses on the desk, nor did his elegant fingers stop for even a moment from writing down notes in loopy cursive. He leaned over the desk, one forearm pressed to the mahogany.

"This Jaken is sorry." The miniature demon grunted in a whiny voice, and then added in a smaller, spiteful voice, "that you humans are all idiots." Rin blinked at him, and Kagome snorted. Sesshomaru calmly stood up, flicked his dark blue rimmed glasses off of his nose, snapped them shut, and, with a well-aimed kick, sent Jaken groveling across the floor into the back room.

"And why don't you come out," Sesshomaru dusted his hands off even though his skin had never come in contact with Jaken's, "When you have counted every spool of silk and organized them by size and color, yes?" Jaken's face was one of pure horror, and the girls could see that the back room was overflowing with colorful spools, several that looked to be about the same shade yet upon closer inspection were subtly different. Sesshomaru clicked the door closed and huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. There was a moment of silence.

Rin timidly slid up beside his desk, curiosity glittering in her eyes as she scoured over every pattern, every bead, every ribbon on each dress. With an eye for miniscule details, she didn't miss even a single little seashell, or a single crystal drop.

Sesshomaru paused in the middle of his Zen Breathing Exercises and looked over at the young woman, whose hair was elegantly tossed together and held back by a simple pearl pin. Her dark chestnut and copper eyes gave away nothing, but everything, and she was smiling so widely he thought she might rip her own face open. Her face, only her eyes evident over her rich brown scarf, was snowy and flushed, and there were still little flecks of snow harboring themselves and relaxing gracefully in her eyelashes. Today she was wearing a cream, almost tan trench coat with some sort of nude pantyhose. Her chocolate heels matched her chocolate scarf which matched her chocolate eyes. Sesshomaru couldn't remember the last time he favored the color brown so much.

Sesshomaru joined her side and pointed at Rin's sketch of her dress, to which he had added triangles all over the skirt. Rin slid the sheet out of the stack and admired it for a moment. "This one's yours," he said quietly, leaning over her shoulder to see better.

Rin gazed at it; he'd added notes everywhere, even little drawings for the decorations.

"I will use a mold for your little decorations." He said to her, and Rin nodded excitedly.

"It's like a miracle," she said wistfully, whimsically. "Thank you so much for doing this for me, I can't even express my gratitude without becoming all emotional." she paused, and then took a turn for another aspect of conversation. "So, these triangles," she began, trying to comprehend it, "You chose triangles because they are the strongest shape, correct?" He nodded, never looking away from her eyes. Rin thought she might go weak-kneed at the intensity of his gaze and tried to keep her mind on her wedding. "That's really smart, Sesshomaru. And triangles fit to make complex shapes as well." Taking a deep breath herself, she motioned to her friend. "Pardon my manners, by the way; This is Kagome. She's one of my best friends and a bridesmaid." Kagome was now standing next to Rin, a certain toad demon crisis averted. She waved at him, smiling.

"'Llo." He nodded in greeting as response.

"And," Rin continued, "I think this dress is going to be absolutely perfect." She smiled warmly at him. "And I figured, since you were being so great about this whole chocolate dress thing, I brought you and Kouga hot chocolate." At those words, an unexpected Kouga barrelled out of the side room, blinking.

"Yes!" He crowed, "Thank you, Ri- Th... Whoa." He stopped in the middle of his speech to outright ogle Kagome, who was looking at him with undisguised repulsion and offense. His blue eyes were looking way too low for the generally conservative woman's comfort, and she greatly disapproved.

"Hey!" She said, pointing to her face. "My face is up here, thanks a lot!"

"Yeah, babe, but see... I wasn't aiming to look at your face." Kouga smirked … wolfishly at her and Kagome flushed, outraged. She crossed her arms consciously and turned her entire self away as though that could shield her from Kouga's prying eyes.

"Stop angering my clients, Kouga." Sesshomaru's voice was like rocks being dashed against each other when he was pissed off. There was a visible tension around him; he had his eyes scrunched shut. One could almost see the vein in his head and the irritation that exuded off of him. "Get the hot chocolate and get back to work."

"Yes, yes, ice princess." Kouga grumbled, and flicked his card between his claws at Kagome. "And that's my number, babe. Call me!" he mouthed the last two words, snatched the burning cup from Kagome's shocked hands, and darted back into the side room like a whirlwind.

"H...He's fast," she murmured, and then scowled in annoyance down at his number. Huffing, she stepped on it as she turned to look away. "And that was my hot cocoa! He took my hot c- _Grrr_." Kagome turned to Rin. "Ko is waiting for you, Rin."

"Right." Rin said tonelessly, the sparkle dying down a little bit at the mention of her fiance. So what was the problem?

Kohaku was a control freak- That was the problem. He was into every habit that Rin didn't want in a man. He was demanding, he was angry. He picked fights with people when he drank too much and he smoked too much. But Sango looked right over all of that with her adoring sisterly eyes and set her and Kohaku up on a blind date. So now, Rin had a demanding, angry Kohaku- Who liked her. A lot. Too much.

Rin spun the thin gold ring on her finger around and thought about the various stages of Sango's probably heartbroken face if she broke up with Kohaku now. When he proposed to her at Sango's 25th birthday party, Rin's eyes had been on the birthday girl. _No_, _I_ _can't_, she felt the word on her lips, but sheer guilt, pity, and love for her best friend forced a _yes_ up that kicked the no aside and took over. Rin had uttered a quiet, solemn, and abrupt _yes_, and amidst the cheers, her face had been stunned. Even Ko had looked stunned, which, now that she thought about it, was kind of depressing.

Sesshomaru hadn't failed to notice the story Rin's eyes were telling, and he read confusion, despair, anger, distaste. And as he leaned over Rin even further, he noticed that he smelled the faintest scent of... smoke. For regular smokers, Sesshomaru smelt it very strongly. But the smell of smoke around Rin was vague, a soft little wisp. Perhaps someone around her smoked. Perhaps she was into smokers... Or maybe her mate- no, fiancé -smoked.

He stopped himself right there. He wasn't going to think about Rin. He wasn't supposed to think about Rin. Rin was taken. And even otherwise, everyone told him he should settle down with a demoness and produce demon heirs, not a human. Humans produced half-breeds. Humans are food, not friends. His mother had said that to him when they were younger, in some movie about a clownfish and his son. The shark had said fish are friends, not food. And his mother had said, "Humans are not friends, Sesshomaru. Humans are food. Just in case you get the wrong idea."

And Sesshomaru, sophisticated little boy as he was, had said, "That's disgusting, Mother. I would never have such a floppy, weak meal." And they had resumed the movie, which had ended up nauseating his mother, and the disc was snapped into two before the happy conclusion, which Sesshomaru still never admitted that he had wanted to see. In the end, the moral was that his mother was an awful mother. End of story.

Sesshomaru had never eaten a human to this day. Although he had come close to ripping his brother's head off in his full demon form. Inuyasha, daring to make the comment, had suggested that "wedding dress designing was for women," and worked in his father's business. That perspective changed greatly when Inuyasha came to the painful realization that Sesshomaru's only clients were women that loved to hit on him, and his clients old, bald men in tuxedos, Inuyasha had to admit Sesshomaru's job was akin to being a male ballet dancer- He got all the girls. Inuyasha had only grown even more jealous when he learned that Sesshomaru got to see women in their underthings to measure them.

Not that it mattered to Sesshomaru- He didn't care much to see women, no matter how much they hit on him. What a hypocrite he was- he'd found it disgusting that women found him desirable when they were to be married, and here he somewhat desired this sweet, ditzy little girl who was going to be married.

Sesshomaru sniffed once more, trying to cancel off the smoke with the rest of her cherry blossom essence, and then raised his head. Rin still smelled like sadness, and he looked for something short to say that would get Rin going a mile a minute as she usually did. He didn't have to, though, because speak of the devil, Inuyasha invited himself into the room where Sesshomaru was standing.

"Oi, princess! I've got a bone to pick with you." Sesshomaru failed to show any amusement at the irony of the statement, instead looking upon his half-breed brother with unconcealed distaste, pure and fresh. "Did you-" Inuyasha's gaze had strayed a similar direction's as Kouga's; Straight atop Kagome, whose face was still staring upwards in a pout.

Sesshomaru sighed.

"Hey, who are you?" Inuyasha demanded rudely, poking Kagome between the shoulder blades. "You look like someone I know."

"Excuse me!" Kagome shoved Inuyasha away, only to receive her own strength back because Inuyasha was basically a rock. She nearly toppled backwards into the rack of dresses, but Inuyasha caught her elbow and yanked her back. He pulled her up, real close to his face, and examined her features. Then, he let go of her, grinning triumphantly. Kagome was staring at Inuyasha's ears with something akin to vague wondrous delight. Inuyasha recognized the look and backed away, shoving her back so she slipped on a dress, falling.

"Keh, I knew it. You look like Kikyo." Kagome, who had landed unceremoniously on her backside, rose to brush nonexistent specks off herself. Humiliated and angry, she basically looked like a mother bear ready to claw Inuyasha's eyes out.

"Do not compare me to Kikyo."

"Oh, you know her?" Inuyasha gazed at her, and she didn't bother gracing him with an answer, rather growling angrily much like a demon. "I guess you do, then. I'm not comparing, though. She cheated on me with some guy named Naraku." He shrugged, and Kagome glanced back at him with a speck of pity.

"She's like that," she agreed softly. "Don't let it get to you, she's done it to a lot of guys."

"Gee, thanks." he said sarcastically, and she flushed again. Sesshomaru raised his eyes way up to the ceiling and prayed to Kami that he didn't explode into his full demon form and rip the whole building apart. Rin set her hand against his arm, almost calmingly, and he looked down at her.

"Can I see it so far?" she asked eagerly, her fingers pressing barely any tension against his arm. "My dress?"

Sesshomaru was about to deny her, but found that he couldn't seem to say no. Plus he wanted to get away from the incessant arguing. Quietly, he pushed open the side room where Kouga was and led Rin down a long hallway. Kouga glanced after him in surprise; never had Sesshomaru allowed a woman to walk down those halls to his very private workspace. Hell, even the wolf wasn't allowed there.

Excited, Rin looked around at the cream walls and flower borders between the ceiling and the wall. She dug her heels into the red velvet carpeting and imagined that she was a bride, walking down the aisle in a dreamy dress. Sesshomaru took in the whimsical look on her face, and, gently breaking her reverie, set his hand against her shoulder, turning her towards the room where works-in-progress stayed.

"Wow..." She breathed. He looked away, huffing. This girl, was there anything that didn't surprise her, or bring upon that soft wonder on her face?

He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Dammit.

Rin immediately saw her dress. There was a large ring of chocolate around the mannequin shaped to her measurements. Spiky chocolate triangles jutted upwards from the circle, to make the hem, looking like a crystal formation. Rin knew not to say anything that would possibly offend the regal demon; after all, Sesshomaru was trying his best. Something, in fact, that no one else would do. No one else had accepted. Rin had to hold on tight to and believe the fact that Sesshomaru would make her a beautiful dress, and that was it.

"It's so cold in here," she said with a shiver instead. Sesshomaru sighed, and, noting that she'd left her coat in the main room, removed his overcoat and dropped it atop her head casually, walking around her to get to the mannequin.

"Oh." Rin expressed her surprise when the heavy fabric dropped on her head. She pulled the large overcoat away, but not before completely immersing herself in the spicy cashew smell of Sesshomaru. It was refined, elegant, a smell that basically exuded some sort of male element. He stood there, looking like he'd simply spring off of a male model magazine, with his thin, medium-sleeved navy blue shirt that was left open slightly to reveal his skin. He had some sort of white scarf that was loosely wound around his neck today, and his blue rimmed glasses were back atop his face. Rin snuggled farther into the coat, maybe just because she could.

Kohaku didn't smell like this spicy, sensual smell. He smelled like smoke.

"..." Sesshomaru gazed at Rin, wondering exactly what she was doing, but chose to leave the petite human girl to her daydream. He shaped another piece of chocolate using the glass cutting tools he'd borrowed from his father.

Rin scooted up next to him, eyes glowing in interest. Sesshomaru was suddenly uncomfortably hyperaware that the girl was there. They were in close proximity, touching, hugging, ravishing distance. Ravishing? What the hell is wrong with me? Sesshomaru couldn't help but watch her eyes with tiny threads of amusement in his amber-gold eyes.

He reached around her to pick up a square of white chocolate. He shaped a large triangle with the cutters and then placed it in accordance to its matching other half along the hem.

"It's cold because if it isn't, the chocolate will melt." He said quietly, and Rin nodded as she watched with unwavering fascination as Sesshomaru fused the pieces together. Her eyes followed the jagged pieces of chocolate, but her mind was far from it. She finally understood why Sesshomaru seemed so... Solitary. Obviously it was because he was always so cooped up in here, with his work. But he created such beautiful pieces of work... Rin exhaled. It was like he was creating a mosaic, a stained glass window.

"Wouldn't you rather want to be somewhere else?" He asked quietly, and Rin started at the sound of his voice, low and rich.

"What? Ah, no." She made a face that was kind of cute. "I have a manicure scheduled today."

He glanced at her. "Don't women like that kind of thing?"

"I suppose most would." Rin's shoulders sagged a bit. "But I hate it."

His eyes were subtly curious enough to urge her to keep talking.

"It's embarrassing," she laughed shyly, embarrassed, and twiddled her fingers. Sesshomaru glanced down at her nails. "I bite my nails really badly, and every time my manicurist sees it..." She shuddered. "Well, what follows is a fit and forcing me to wear these god awful Justin Bieber bandages around each finger to stop me from biting." She was nibbling her thumbnail as she spoke, and Sesshomaru stopped fusing to glance pointedly at her hand for a second.

"Eh? Oh, thanks." She rolled her eyes. "I do it subconsciously, you know?" He nodded shortly and there was a comfortable silence for the next fifteen minutes, as Rin and Sesshomaru remained absorbed in very, very different things. Suddenly, the door swung open and Kagome barged in, red faced and wringing her hands with a terribly worried expression. Kouga was behind him, looking hasty and a little guilty.

"Sorry, Sess. She wouldn't listen to me when I tried to stop her. Started going on about castrating me, and I sort of need my male parts."

"Rin, come on! Your manicurist's been calling me, and he's called me at least seventeen times in the past seventeen minutes!"

"He?" Sesshomaru questioned, and Rin threw her hands up.

"His name's Jakotsu, he's gay, and he does my nails fabulously." Rin noted, rocking on her heels. "But he goes into a rage every time he sees my nails. And somehow, he still manages to do magic with them."

"Jak wants to murder the both of us. We're late, and he's 'a very busy man.'"

Rin rose to her feet. "Totally." She mumbled. "Thanks for letting me see the dress, Sesshomaru." She handed him back his coat, smiling warmly, and he just looked blankly at her, nodding slowly. Gently, he took it from her thin fingers and tried hard to focus on her ring, the symbol that she was someone else's. He supposed that was the only mark of possession to humans;

As they left, Kouga returned to the main shop, tossing Kagome's empty hot cocoa cup into the trash. "I think I'm in love, Sess."

"Don't call me that," Sesshomaru intoned. "And what are you doing here, half-breed? Don't tell me you're... Infatuated," he sneered the word, amber eyes chilled, "with that human girl as well?"

"As well?" Kouga jumped up. "Listen, dog-boy, Kagome is totally mine!" Inuyasha glowered at him.

"Keh, you idiot. Wolves are part of the dog family. And besides, who said anything about liking her at all?" He scoffed, rocking spastically on his heels. (Though that was hardly surprising. Inuyasha hardly stood still.) "Hey, Sesshomaru. Did you make a bet with Miroku that you lost? Because now he wants me to pay for drinks and entrance to some club tonight."

"Hardly." Sesshomaru responded scathingly. "I have no time on my hands to go to a club tonight." He paused, and then spoke up again. "Besides, I don't lose bets."

"Hehe..." Kouga suddenly appeared shifty and nervous. "I may have told him you want to make a bet with him... And if you lose then you have to pay us entrance tonight."

There was a momentary pause before a crack was heard and Kouga went flying backwards into a rack of dresses. Inuyasha was breathing harshly, fist raised, and it was evident who had thrown the first blow.

"Careful!" Sesshomaru nearly roared as the two went at it with each other. Kouga hopped forward gracefully, teetering on his heels for one second before throwing himself at Inuyasha with a blur of speed.

"You bastard!" Inuyasha growled. "Son of a-"

"Don't you dare, you filthy hypocrite! _You're_ the son of a-"

"My mother is _human_!" Inuyasha bellowed, nearly strangling the wolf demon. "Why did you even bet for me?! Do you know where that lecher monk wants entrance to? Do you?"

To his surprise, it was Sesshomaru who answered. "Where?" It was dry, but he sort of needed some distraction from a certain pair of doe eyes and a clement smile.

"Kiss and Fly." Inuyasha raged, rising to his feet. "Where each glass costs thirty dollars and acceptance is exclusive only." He continued fuming. "We'd get in free if only we had some sort of c...Celeb..." He trailed off, and Sesshomaru, who'd looked back at his notes for Rin's dress, looked up again at him. To his irritation, Inuyasha's eyes were on him.

"No," he intoned bluntly.

"You haven't even heard what I'm going to say!"

"I know I'm not going to like it." Sesshomaru growled between gritted teeth.

"You can get us free acceptance! You're like a magnet for girls everywhere. A walking pantie-dropper." Sesshomaru raised a pissed off eyebrow at Inuyasha's crude epiphet for him.

"No. I said no. You're the famous Inuyasha Takahashi, aren't you?"

"Yeah, to old men! If I wanted acceptance into a famous business luncheon, that's one thing. This is a night club. I don't have enough money for this one." Inuyasha scoffed, glancing at a point on the ceiling. His ears twitched in irritation.

"Uh, yeah you do," Kouga grumbled. Inuyasha shot him a searing look.

"This is your fault, you mangy prick. You should be paying for yourself and that pervert, and for me too." He growled, and Kouga rolled his startling blye eyes to the ceiling. "Come on, Sesshomaru. You could have some fun."

"No time. I have to finish Rin's dress." Sesshomaru really did want to get a move on with Rin's dress- it was taking ages, and each triangle required utmost patience. Since he started her project, he had given Jaken twenty-three serious injuries and fourteen minor ones for interrupting him and causing a piece of chocolate to break.

Never again.

But every time he thought about just resigning and telling Rin that she'd look much prettier in some sort of silk gown than a chocolate statue, he thought about the reminiscing glimmer in her eye when she thought about her mother.

"Just leave it for tonight." Inuyasha's pestering was starting to grate against Sesshomaru's nerves. "She won't care! Come on, Sesshomaru. Get a life. You stay cooped up in here all the time, so just- I dunno. Get out there, ice princess."

That was it.

"Fine." Sesshomaru nearly growled, the snarl rolling clearly from his curled lip.

"Come on, Sesshomaru- Wait, what?" Inuyasha blinked, recoiling from his brother. "Really? Great! Free access!" He howled. "Suck that, Miroku!"

"Just shut up and leave." Sesshomaru pointed at the door with one razor sharp claw, clearly telling Inuyasha that if he lingered even one second longer, then he would certainly die. "Now."

Inuyasha hastily made his exit before Sesshomaru attempted to strangle him or worse, changed his mind.

"Awesome." Kouga grinned, leaning back against his chair and folding his arms behind his head. Sesshomaru glared at the wolf demon as he continued scanning the dress. "This is going to be a fantastic night out."

* * *

**So, thoughts? How do you feel about the development? I take criticism! Reviews are appreciated. *rambles* **


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